Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Straight from the airport, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on early Wednesday morning condoled with the family of former President Corazon Aquino.

Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III received the President in behalf of the family.

With Arroyo were members of her Cabinet, including Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo, Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, and Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who was agrarian reform secretary and immigration chief during Aquino's time.

Senator Aquino spent a few awkward moments at the President's left side. On the President's right side on the pew was the senator's aunt and the President's image consultant Lupita Kashiwahara.

The President and her entourage stayed only for about 10 minutes before the public viewing resumed at the Manila Cathedral.

With only a few hours left before former President Corazon Aquino is brought to her final resting place at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City, thousands continue to say goodbye to her at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros.

Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III on Tuesday denied he snubbed the visit of the children of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who went to the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros Manila to pay their last respects to his mother, former President Corazon Aquino.

Aquino, the only son of the former president, was not around when Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., his wife Liza, and his sister, former congresswoman Imee Marcos, went to the church where the former President's remains lie in state.

The senator said when he was advised that the Marcoses were on their way to the church, he could not leave to meet with them because he was still writing the family's response to Tuesday's necrological rites for his mother, as well as their response to Wednesday's final mass.

Those who aspire to become president of the Philippines should look to the late President Corazon Aquino and her martyred husband, Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., as role models and they will get the trust of the people, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said.

PAYING respects to former president Corazon Aquino will go beyond politics, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said, and even his political foes will be invited.

Osmeña has not finalized the date for the mass at the Carmelite monastery in Barangay Mabolo yet, and it might not be anytime soon because he wants any of Aquino's children to be present.

The mass will be open to everyone, including Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, with whom he had a falling-out, and all the other government officials and former politicians who want to honor Aquino.

The mayor said he will form a "neutral" committee that will organize the mass, and will also consult those who worked closely with Aquino at that time.

In Manila today, Cuenco and his wife Nancy and Vice Mayor Michael Rama will attend the requiem mass and funeral of Aquino.

Military camps around the country will again boom with volleys of cannon fire Wednesday as the Armed Forces of the Philippines gives its highest honor—a 21-gun salute—to a revered Commander in Chief on the day of her burial.

For 21 minutes, a cannon blast will be heard every minute from the major camps the moment the coffin bearing the remains of former President Corazon Aquino leaves Manila Cathedral after the 9 a.m. Requiem Mass, AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr. told the Inquirer Monday.

A brigade of honor guard will also perform departure honors for Aquino at Manila Cathedral on Wednesday morning, the spokesperson added.

While Malacañang had declared a 10-day period of national mourning for the departed icon of Philippine democracy, Brawner said the military would follow its own tradition of flying flags at half-staff for 30 days.

Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda will arrive on Wednesday to personally deliver their respective governments' letter of condolences to the family of former President Corazon Aquino and the Philippine government.

Another revolt similar to the 1986 People Power uprising that ushered the end of the Marcos dictatorship would be "difficult" without the leadership of former President Corazon Aquino, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said on Tuesday.

Filipinos' collective grief over former president Corazon Aquino"s death may snowball into political moves that may include acts of civil disobedience against the Arroyo administration, according to veterans of successful movements to oust previous leaders.

The action – the very same effort used by the late president to help topple the Marcos dictatorship – may take place nine days after the former leader's burial, said Pastor "Boy" Saycon, secretary-general of the Council on Philippine Affairs (COPA), the group that helped depose President Joseph Estrada in January 2001.

Pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) extended its condolences to the family of the late former President Corazon Aquino, who it called the country's most important postwar president.

The SWS cited its first quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey where three out of five adult Filipinos have much trust in Cory Aquino.

It said the survey from February 20 to 23 found that 60 percent of adult Filipinos have much trust and 21 percent have little trust in former Mrs. Aquino, for a good net trust rating of +38 (% much trust minus % little trust, correctly rounded).

"Former President Aquino's net trust rating has been traditionally very positive, ranging from moderate +14 to very good +50 from September 1989 to September 2000," it said.

It became mostly neutral between November 2000 and November 2002 before recovering to moderate +22 in March 2003.

Her net trust ratings had since been at level +20s and above, ranging from moderate +20 in November 2003 to her highest rating of very good +51 in March 2008.

Public trust in former President Aquino tend to be highest in Mindanao, at good net +49 (68% much trust, 19% little trust), followed by the Visayas, at good +37 (62% much trust, 25% little trust), Balance Luzon, at good +34 (55% much trust, 21% little trust), and Metro Manila, at good +34 (55% much trust, 21% little trust).

Former President Aquino's net trust rating is highest among the upper-middle class ABC, at good +49 (62% much trust, 13% little trust), followed by class D or the masa, at good +38 (60% much trust, 21% little trust, correctly rounded), and class E, at good +35 (59% much trust, 24% little trust).

Public trust in former President Aquino is higher among women, at good net +43 (62% much trust, 19% little trust), compared to men, at good+33 (57% much trust, 24% little trust).

By age group, trust in former President Aquino is stronger among 25-34, at good +46 (64% much trust, 18% little trust), 18-24, at good +45 (64% much trust, 19% little trust), and 35-44, at good +40 (60% much trust, 20% little trust), compared to 45-54, at good +31 (55% much trust, 25% little trust, correctly rounded), and 55 and above, at good +30 (55% much trust, 25% little trust).

The First Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey was conducted over February 20 to 23, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% for area percentages applied to the survey.

On the other hand, Mangahas said in his column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last July 11 that it was through Mrs. Aquino's leadership that the country got out from under the authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos, and democracy was restored.

"Survey data on Cory Aquino go back to the July 1985 socio-political opinion poll by the Bishops-Businessmen's Conference, which looked into the popularity of potential opponents to Marcos in the next presidential election, then scheduled for 1987. Cory was not at the top of the list at that time, but somewhere in the middle. I recall that Salvador "Doy" Laurel, Jovito Salonga and Agapito "Butz" Aquino were more popular than she was," he said.

THE Visayan Electric Company Employees Union (VCEU) and the management agreed to continue their negotiation at 9 a.m. on Aug. 7, said Director Edmundo Mirasol Jr. of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

Since the VCEU strike vote won by a majority of 171 votes last July 30, the union can already legally hold a strike against the management on Aug. 7.

Those who attended yesterday's marathon hearing were the entire VCEU board headed by its president Casmero Mahilum, officials of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), and the management's human resource manager and lawyer.

State-owned National Power Corp. (Napocor) wants to increase power rates in Luzon by P1.5058 per kilowatt-hour and in the Visayas by P1.3383, according to a petition it filed before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) last week.

Telecommunication companies (telcos) have agreed to implement in December a new billing system for mobile phone calls that would result in lower charges than the one-minute-per-pulse system currently in place.

Former US President Bill Clinton made a surprise visit to North Korea and met its reclusive leader on Tuesday to try to win freedom for two jailed American journalists in a move that could re-energize nuclear talks.

Big artists from the music industry will gather together Wednesday at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila where a memorial service for former president Corazon Aquino will be held.

"During the liturgy itself, we will be singing Eucharistic and liturgical songs. And then after the Mass, that's when we can bring in our inspirational songs," composer Fr. Manoling Francisco said.

Renowned singers Jose Mari Chan, Lea Salonga, Apo Hiking Society, Dulce, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Regine Velasquez and Martin Nievera are among those who will give tribute to the former leader by singing her most favorite songs including "I Have Fallen In Love (With the Same Woman Three Times)."

The song was originally a poem written by Mrs. Aquino's husband, former senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., for her. Chan will sing it in the memorial service Wednesday.

Salonga will perform "Bayan Ko" while the Apo Hiking Society will sing "Handog ng Pilipino Sa Mundo," which is said to be the theme song of the 1986 people uprising that catapulted Mrs. Aquino to the presidency.

"The Prayer" will be performed by Nievera and Velasquez. Dulce and Padilla, meanwhile, will sing "Your Heart Today" and "Hindi Kita Malilimutan," respectively.

"Your Heart Today," composed by Francisco, talks about the Aquinos and their sacrifices and love for the country. Dulce first sang it in 1993.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines has deplored Malacañang's disregard of "established process" in choosing the country's National Artist awardees.

"While we respect the President's prerogative to name her choices, we deplore the disregard of the established process whereby our National Artists are chosen," Emily Abrera, chair of the CCP Board of Trustees said Tuesday.

This as she denied the CCP was consulted on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's final picks of inductees, at least one of them is deemed ineligible to be conferred membership in the Order of National Artists.

"We wish to clarify that we were never consulted about these final choices, nor have we been officially informed about them to this day," Emily Abrera, chair of the CCP Board of Trustees said Tuesday.

Presidential Political Adviser Gabrial Claudio on Saturday defended Arroyo's choice of inductees, saying it was a result of consultation with the CCP and the National Center for Culture and Arts.

The title National Artist of the Philippines is given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. The selection committee is composed of representatives from the CCP and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

But Abrera said only Francisco, Conde and Alcuaz had gone through two years of rigorous screening.

At the same time, she said musician Ramon Santos, who got the most number of votes from the selection committee, was dropped from the list by Malacañang. The selection committee is composed of representatives from the CCP and the NCCA.

Meanwhile, the CCP board in a statement said Caparas failed to pass the first phase of the screening process while Alvarez, an Arroyo ally, was not even among the nominees.

"She had not even been nominated, did not go through the selection process and she was a significant part of as the head of NCCA," Behn Cervantes, member of the CCP Board said.

Alvarez is head of the NCCA.

The four on the shortlist of the selection committee are Santos, Francisco, Conde, Aguilar and Alcuaz.

"We are saddened by these turn of events and regret the furor all this has caused," Abrera said.

"Throughout the history of the National Artist Awards, Presidents of the Philippines have exercised the privilege of adding their choices to the final list of National Artists Awardees," said Abrera. "But never was there an instance when the name of a person deemed truly deserving and who went through the rigorous process of selection was struck off the list."

National Artist for Theater and Design (2003) Salvador Bernal said Malacanang's act "is not only a sly but an insult to a whole body of people."

"We are appalled by the brazenness act of Malacañang," National Artist for Literature (2001) F. Sionol Jose said.

Six Asians have been chosen to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award—Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize—among them a Filipino lawyer known for successfully championing the cause of the environment in the country.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced Monday that Filipino Antonio Oposa Jr., Yu Xiaogang and Ma Jun from China, Thai Krisana Kraisintu, Deep Joshi from India, and Burmese Ka Hsaw Wa would be recognized for their achievements in awarding ceremonies to be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Aug. 31.

"They are Asia's heroes, leading efforts that put scientific knowledge and tools at the service of specific and vital human concerns—affordable and effective health care, improved livelihoods, environmental destruction and basic human rights," Carmencita Abella, the foundation's president, said in a statement.

Abella said the awardees each used "calibrated strategies to craft lasting solutions to problems besetting their people" while sharing "a greatness of spirit which infuses their leadership for change."

Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president and is considered Asia's highest honor. It is given every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service that ruled the life of the late Filipino leader.

The six Magsaysay awardees join 271 laureates who received the honor before them. They will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of President Ramon Magsaysay, and a cash prize.

Oposa will be recognized for "his path-breaking and passionate crusade to engage Filipinos in acts of enlightened citizenship that maximize the power of the law to protect and nurture the environment for themselves, their children and generations still to come."

Environmental law

Instead of pursuing a lucrative law practice, the Harvard Law School graduate decided to focus on environmental law and made his first mark with an unusual case that later popularized the "Oposa Doctrine" in international legal circles, the foundation said.

"This was a class action suit he filed in which 43 minors asked the government to cancel timber licenses on the grounds that rampant logging violated their constitutional right to a healthy environment," it said.

In a 1993 decision, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the principle of "intergenerational equity," affirming Oposa's argument that the interests of future generations could be protected in court.

"A triumph of principle, the case set a precedent for how citizens can leverage the law to protect the environment," the foundation said.

It said Oposa demonstrated this in 1999 when a citizens' group filed a case holding the government liable for the pollution of Manila Bay and responsible for its cleanup.

"Marshalling the resources of the law and pursuing the case for all of 10 years, he won a Supreme Court decision compelling 11 government agencies to coordinate their efforts in rehabilitating Manila Bay, submit action plans, and regularly report to the court on the progress of their work," the foundation said.

It also noted that Oposa risked his life to stop illegal dynamite fishing in the Visayan Sea through his Law of Nature Foundation.

Pharmaceutical rigor

Thai awardee Kraisintu will be recognized for "placing pharmaceutical rigor at the service of patients, through her untiring and fearless dedication to producing much-needed generic drugs in Thailand and elsewhere in the developing world."

Joshi will be cited for "his vision and leadership in bringing professionalism to the NGO movement in India, by effectively combining 'head' and 'heart' in the transformative development of rural communities."

Yu will be awarded for "fusing the knowledge and tools of social science with a deep sense of social justice, in assisting dam-affected communities in China to shape the development projects that affect their natural environment and their lives."

Ma will be recognized for "harnessing the technology and power of information to address China's water crisis and mobilizing pragmatic, multisectoral and collaborative efforts to ensure sustainable benefits for China's environment and society."

Ka Hsaw Wa will receive the award for "dauntlessly pursuing nonviolent yet effective channels of redress, exposure and education for the defense of human rights, the environment and democracy in Burma (Myanmar)."